CH 15

A/N:

*Pontaro and the rest also leveled up when Yuri-kun leveled up, but writing [Pontaro has reached level 23! Ponjiro has reached level 17! Ponsaburo has reached level 16! Ponshiro has reached level 14! Pongoro has reached level 13! Ponrokuro has (omitted)] made me feel like I was going to lose my mind so I omitted them.

[A Sign of Evolution and An Abnormality!]

[World News! Jumbo Merman has been defeated for the first time by the party of Yario, Magikko, and Crutteruo! Dungeon: Sandy Caverns, fastest capture completed!]

[World News! Wolf King has been defeated for the first time by the party of Zansword, Fuko, Aid, and Raitei! Dungeon: Wolf’s Den, fastest capture completed!]

[World News! Hot-Blooded Gorilla has been defeated for the first time single-handedly by Reinhard von Edelfield! Dungeon: Muscle Forest, fastest capture completed!]

“Oh~, after the third day, more and more world news is coming out! Or rather, this Reinhard-whatever guy, he soloed a dungeon as I did! Looks like I have to step up my game!”

I read the world news that kept coming one after another as I shot Pontaro and the gang!

I was currently in a dungeon called ‘Insectivorous God’s Forest’. This dungeon was home to all sorts of insect-type monsters such as man-eating caterpillars and giant bees, and they came in swarms. More than 30 monsters had gathered around me.

But…

“Boys, get back, ‘Summon Return’! And now off you go again, oraoraoraoraoraoraoraaaaaaaa!”

[Pigyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!]

Shoot arrows, summon back arrows, shoot arrows, summon back arrows, repeat—that was how I was slaughtering the caterpillars!

It made for good shooting practice, too. I’d gotten used to shooting three or four arrows at once.

I had only 1 HP, so facing multiple enemies was more threatening to me than facing a single powerful enemy. Regardless of how high my Luck was, it didn’t guarantee that ‘Guts’ would always activate every time I took a hit. To overcome this weakness, I had to increase my rate of fire!

“Pigyagya~!”

“Whoa?!”

A giant caterpillar swooped down on me from the tree! However, Pontaro, who had just pierced through another monster, immediately made a U-turn, almost seemingly saying “You damned brat! Don’t you dare lay your filthy hands on Aneki!”, and skewered it to a nearby tree. As expected of the special attack unit’s captain!

But…

“Pigiii…!”

“Hm~m, still alive, huh? So my damage-increasing skills really won’t trigger if they attack on their own.”

There was one thing I noticed while fighting. Pontaro and the gang could fly away and attack monsters by themselves, though their speed would be slightly slower than when I shot them. It was thanks to Living Weapons’ skill ‘Flight’.

But if they attacked by themselves, or if they went on to stab themselves into another monster after killing the monster I shot them at, it seemed it wouldn’t be counted as my attack, and as such, they wouldn’t trigger my damage-increasing skills.

As such, regardless of how high Pontaro’s level had reached, his attack power would forever remain moderate because I’d made him possess the weakest weapon item ‘Beginner Arrow’. It was such an unexpected flaw.

“Anyway, let’s finish it off. Oraa!”

After throwing aside my bow, I threw a kick toward the skewered giant caterpillar.

At that moment, all my damage-increasing skills, including ‘Psycho’—which increased my damage when not holding a bow—got activated, and the caterpillar died while raising a death throe, “Giepiii?!” Hahaha, justice has prevailed!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

38 Killer Caterpillars are defeated! Yuri, Pontaro, and the rest have gained experience points!

Pontaro’s level has reached 24! It seems something is about to happen to it…!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Oh, ‘it seems something is about to happen to it’—what does that mean?!”

What Ms. Message said bothered me!

Pontaro’s level had always been a little higher than mine from the start.

And soon, he would reach level 25…

“Wait, could it be that you would evolve, Pontaro?!”

“Kisha!~” Pontaro vibrated happily almost as though saying “I-I’m not sure, Aneki! But I’m gettin’ a feelin’ like I’m gonna grow to be a bigger man soon!” Ponjiro and the rest surrounded him, and all of them began to vibrate as though to praise him. It was a moving sight.

And so, in the middle of the deep forest, I was surrounded by floating, shivering black arrows, when suddenly, a scream came from the deeper part of the forest!

“Higyaaaaaaaaaaaa?! Someone, heeeeeeeeeeelp!”

It sounded like a girl’s voice. I hurriedly rushed toward its source!